Bowling-alley.



W. X. STEVENS.

BOWLING ALLEY.

APPLICATION I'ILBD MAY 9, 1913.

1,097,687. Patented May 26, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

v awwmm COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH CO.,WASMINGTON. D. C.

W. X. STEVENS.

BOWLING ALLEY.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1913. I 1,097,687. Patented May 26, 1914 2 SKEETS-SHEBT 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM X. STEVENS, OF VIASHINGTON, DISTRICT Oil? COLUMBIA.

BOWLING-ALLEY.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern ile it known that I, l/VILLIAM X. STEVENS,

a citizen of the United States, residing at ll ashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bowling-r'illeys. of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates in general to bowling alleys, and more particularly to that class of bowling alleys which are provided with means for resetting the pins or targets by the player or some other person at the head of the table far from the said pins or targets. Its object is, first. to indicate which one of the targets has been hit by the player in alleys where the targets are hung to swing to and fro; second, to return the balls, and, third, to reset the indicators without the operator going to them.

To this end, my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts of a bowling alley hereinafter more fully de scribed, and particularly stated in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 represents fragmentary portions of a bowling alley as seen from the rear end, showing my invention. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a top or plan view on a smaller scale of a bowling alley, showing the general arrangement of parts of my invention. Fig. 4 is a side view partly in section on line as, Fig. 5, of portions of a bowling alley, showing a modification of my invention. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the lifting hand on a larger scale, looking down upon section line 03, Fig. 4.

Numeral 5 represents the bed of the alley; 6, a series of targets, each provided with a tongue 7, both target and tongue being hung to swing on a rod 8. In their relation to this invention the target and tongue will be considered as one, and be called the target. Against the rear end 9 of the alley a buffer 10 is fixed as a cushion to receive the impact of the balls when rolled or thrown past the targets. In the path of each swinging target an indicator 11 is pivoted to a block 12 that is fixed upon the rear end 9, and a spring 13 acts on the indicator to retain it in a vertical position when it has been raised by a swinging target. Each spring 18 also carries a bell 1a, which is struck and rung by the indicator when the latter swings up. If the targets are numbered or otherwise marked, each correspond- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 9, 1913.

Patented May 26, 1914.

Serial No. 766,571.

ing indicator should have a similar mark on its face so that when the indicator is raised the mark may be seen from the head of the alley. Thus the players attention is called, first, by the sound of a bell, to the fact that he has hit a target; and, secondly, by the raised indicator he is shown which target it was, even though the target may have swung back to rest. A string 15 is attached to a lever 16 on a rock shaft 17 that is journaled at 18 to the end 9 of the alley. A rod 19 located behind the standing position of the indicators is secured to the shaft 17 by means of arms 20, so that when the string 15 is pulled it swings the bar 19 forward and with it tips the indicators down to their nor mal position of rest. At the rear end of the alley bed 5 the floor 21 is trough-shaped and slants across the line of the alley to the foot of an elevator guideway 22, which leads, in the arc of a circle, up to a rollway 23 of the usual form, slanting toward the head of the alley so that balls placed in it at the foot of the alley will roll home to the head of the alley by gravity. A carrying hand 24 is pivoted at 25 to an elevator, here shown as an arm 26, that is rigidly mounted 011 a rod 2?, Figs. 1, 2, 3, that is journaled to rock in bearings 28, and extends the whole length of the alley. At the head of the alley a hand lever 29 is secured to the rod 27. The hand 24 has a narrow wrist 30 which travels in a slot 31 in the under side 32 of the guideway 22. Then playing a game, the balls roll off the end of the bed 5 onto the slanting floor 21 and to the foot of the elevator guideway 22, where they may accumulate as shown by dotted circles 33. Now, if the operator pushes the lever 29 over away from the alley bed the rod 27 will be rocked, carrying upward the elevator 26 and the ball in its hand 24, dumping the ball as shown, in. dotted lines 34: into the rollway 23 and leaving it to roll to the head of the alley. hen the elevator 26 is returned to get another ball it finds one directly in the path of its hand 24; but w ien the hand hits on that ball it swings on its pivot 25 until it passes under the ball as shown by dotted lines 35. This operation may be repeated until all the balls are returned home to the player. The operation is very easy because the operator does not have to lift on the lever 29, but in a standing position merely swings it to and fro. If any ball rolls oil the alley bed into the foot-walk 36 it will be guided by a slanting sideboard 87, Fig. 3, to the foot of the elevator among the other balls 33.

In the modification shown in Figs. 4 and the same style of hand 2a, pivoted arm 26, and curved guideway 22 as those already described are employed, but the guideway stands with its side to the delivery of the ioor trough 21 and directly in line of the rollway 23; and the elevator 26, pivoted at 38 to a fixture, is operated by a strong cord 39 which runs over pulleys 40 and 41 to the head of the alley, where a handle 4-2 is at tached to the cord. As shown in Fig. 5, the hand 2a is provided with fingers 43 and the floor s lof the guideway is slotted for the passage of the fingers, leaving a midway tongue 45. The object of the fingers i l?) and the floor tongues 45 between them is to support a ball, either large or small, on this floor while the fingers drag down over it and then come up from below, as at 3530, Fig. 1, to carry it up. There may be any suitable number of fingers 4:3, and tongues 4:5 between them.

The targets may be made in any desired shape and with any desired arrangement to cause the hitting of one pin to carry others with it; but as the targets return to place after indicating their hit a variety of games may be designed peculiar to this device. It might be agreed that the player should count only the numbers on the standing indicators after three plays, then, if he should hit the same target twice, it would still show but one count. Or it might be agreed to lose if the same target were hit twice. A bell ringing indicates a hit, yet if after two rings there was but one indicator up it would show beyond dispute that one had been hit twice. This invention is applicable either to bowling alleys or to table game boards, or to ball throwing for practice, as the balls are re turned and the indicators may be reset by the player, and the targets reset themselves all without the player moving from his standpoint.

lVhile the modification shown in Fig. 4 trusts to gravity to carry the arm 26 down at each operation, if that is found to be an objection it can be easily overcome by using a returning cord like ll with suitably located pulleys; and it has the great advantage of standing directly in line of the delivery rollway 23, wherever that may be located, and does not require the increased width of alley demanded by the arm 26, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Furthermore, the arm 26, Fig. 4, swinging in line of the delivery rollway 23, enables the operator to give the ball a throw that sends it well along on its home run. In one case the rod 27, and in the other case the cord 41, is the means for communication between the operator at the head of the alley and the elevator arm 26 at the foot.

I claim:

1. In a bowling alley, a trough-shaped floor slanting across the foot of the alley to one side; a raised rollway at that side slanting to the head of the alley; a hand adapted to engage a ball; an arm for the hand pivoted to carry it up from the said floor to the rollway, and means communicating with the head of the alley for operating the said arm.

2. In a bowling alley, a rollway slanting from the foot to the head of the alley; an arm at the foot of the alley adapted to raise balls from the floor to the said rollway, and means of communication between the said arm and the head of the alley whereby the arm may be operated.

In a bowling alley, an elevator comprising an arm to swing vertically; means for directing balls to the foot of it; a hand pivoted to the arm to drag over a ball in its path in descending and swing under it; fingers for the hand, and slots in the floor for the passage of the fingers.

at. In a bowling alley, an elevator guideway having a fioor with slots in it, and the elevator having fingers to pass through the said slots.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

IVILLIAM: X. STEVENS.

lvitnesses H. P. HOWARD, Jr., CLARENCE MILLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C. 

